Canadian Co-Manufacturer Joriki Beverages Closes Pittston, Pennsylvania, Plant
Canadian contract beverage manufacturer Joriki Beverages has abruptly closed its Pittston, Pa., processing plant, leaving more than 200 people without jobs, according to local news reports. The company’s Web site shows the Pittston facility as its only processing facility in the U.S.
Employees told the news outlet that the plant shut down for the holidays and never reopened, with a New Year’s Eve email delivering their notices of termination. The report said Joriki pointed to “unforeseen circumstances beyond the company’s control” as the cause of the permanent closure, and that it would have preferred to provide more notice, but the circumstances did not allow it — having made the decision to not issue a WARN notice 60 days prior to the shutdown in order to preserve the chance of securing a buyer or additional funding.
The notice to employees also said that the company was pursuing a “going-concern transaction” to help maintain operations and had been receiving financial support from a major customer and primary lender. It further said the deal fell apart just before Christmas. The plant bottled beverages for such brands as Welch’s and Coca-Cola, the news report said.
It has been a rough final quarter for Joriki Beverages, with this closure (and the underlying financial stresses revealed in the notice) following only a few months after Joriki’s Pickering, Ont., Canada, plant was pinpointed as the source of a Listeria outbreak in plant-based milks that killed at least three people and sickened at least 20 in Canada in summer 2024. The facility was still shut down in late October as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) investigation continued.
The products were produced by Joriki for Danone Canada and sold under the Silk and Great Value brands, and were recalled in July 2024.
